Economics
China’s Global Ambitions Could Split the World Economy
Xi Jinping is quickly creating an international ecosystem of his own—and that may not be good for companies.
A street in Huinan Town, Pudong, Shanghai, on Oct. 3, 2017.
Photograph: ImagineChina
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After the fall of the Berlin Wall, many economists and policymakers assumed the world would become one happy, prosperous economy. Aided by the spread of capitalism and technology, countries would be increasingly knit together by trade, finance, and the internet. There would, of course, be the occasional setback—such as the 2008 financial crisis. But ultimately the forces of globalization would prove irresistible and ever-tighter integration inevitable.
A serious obstacle has emerged to that vision. It’s not Donald Trump’s threat of trade wars or Brexit or terrorism. It’s China.